


Flowers for the Forgotten

by SANLLGHT



Category: ATEEZ (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Flower Shop, Flowers, Plot Twists, Woosan, flowershopowner!san, soldier!wooyoung
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-20
Updated: 2019-10-20
Packaged: 2020-12-24 16:35:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,285
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21102578
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SANLLGHT/pseuds/SANLLGHT
Summary: Flower shop owner, Choi San, delivers a shipment to the town's cemetery, where he is drawn to a grave that reads Jung Wooyoung.





	Flowers for the Forgotten

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: I got this idea from watching an old interview where they talked about what they would be if they weren’t idols. Wooyoung said he’d be a soldier and San said he’d be either a florist or a barista. I tried to tie the two as naturally as I could, so I hope you enjoy!

Choi San brought freshly pruned flowers to the boy’s grave.

Choi San brought freshly pruned flowers to the boy’s grave _every day_. 

It didn’t start like this, however. In fact, San rarely ever delivered the flowers to the cemetery himself. 

You see, San was a florist. He owned a little shop in the center of town called “Mountain of Flowers.” Clever, he thought while naming the shop, as his name meant mountain. Every week, he makes a few dozen bouquets for the cemetery for free, so that visitors will have something to honor their members.

One morning, San got a call from the people who run the shipments saying that their truck broke down and that they weren’t going to be able to make the shipments until the following day. This saddened San, as he valued being relied on for punctuality and consistency. He decided to close up shop and make the deliveries himself - it was a slow day anyway.

“San-ah! What brings you here today?” the security guard at the front gate asked him with a smile. 

“Good morning, Mingi,” San smiled. "The shipments were going to be late again, so I decided to bring the flowers over myself in case anyone was to need them today.”

The security guard nodded, eyes gleaming as he opened the gate for San. He was speechless because of how kind the boy always is, bringing the flowers on his own merit if the shipment was going to arrive even an hour late. That’s the thing about San, he always put the needs of others before his own. 

The boy thanked the guard politely and headed straight into the office to set up the flowers, every petal placed precisely where he wanted. He had an eye for that sort of thing.

That day, something told San that he should take a stroll through the cemetery so he could leave his extra flowers on the neglected graves before heading back to the shop.

He admired the scenery of the empty cemetery, as it was bright and full of love, bringing peace to those who rested there. He had never seen the place so beautiful and void of sorrow. He found a bench towards a secluded part of the cemetery and pulled a small sketchpad out of his bag he brought the flowers in, he never left home without it, and began to sketch out the scene.

Three tombstones lay in front of him, surrounded by weeds, or, as San liked to call them, wildflowers. The graves lacked information of which was found on most others; but each of them read a name: Choi Jongho, Kim Hongjoong, and Jung Wooyoung. San’s eyes lingered on the last one, as a few white daisies grew out from around the common wildflowers. There was something so welcoming about it.

_Beep, beep, beep._ The alarm on his watch went off and he snapped out of his trance. San packed up his things with haste and headed out of the cemetery. He said his goodbyes to Mingi and started his walk back to his shop.

For the rest of the day, all the boy could do was stare at the sketch he made of the three tombstones, his head spinning. Why didn’t they have any information on them? There was bound to be someone out there that knew more than just their names. Their birthdays and… death days? Were they not fathers, sons, or friends of anyone? Were they just forgotten souls? 

Maybe he could ask Mingi, he thought for a moment. He was relieved for a moment before he realized that Mingi was just the cemetery’s guard, he probably wouldn’t know anything about three specific graves. 

He almost admitted defeat when he had an idea.

San hopped onto the shop’s computer and typed the three names onto a search engine. His eyes widened at the title of the first link, _Jung Wooyoung to Be the Youngest Naval Lieutenant Promoted to Commander_. 

He continued reading the article until he knew everything he could about this Jung Wooyoung. He joined the naval academy right out of high school and advanced ranks quickly with his natural skill and determination. He received many honors and awards because of this. The other two, Choi Jongho and Kim Hongjoong, were also mentioned, but not in as much detail.

San froze when he reached the end of the article, where a photo was attached.

The boy must have been around his age. He was tall and slim and had what looked like the softest silver hair. He was beaming at the camera as he was receiving what seemed to be his third medal. Jung Wooyoung was the most beautiful person San had ever laid his eyes on. His heart skipped a beat.

Suddenly, however, his stomach dropped as he noticed his sketch on the desk and remembered the cemetery.

The beautiful boy was _dead_.

He couldn’t keep reading. He was too scared to find out the way the boy died, too scared to imagine the end to something, someone, so beautiful.

San’s eyes filled to the brim with tears as he moved about the shop, picking out different purple and white flowers: iris, statice, hydrangea, and baby’s breath. He carefully intertwined them in an arrangement and put them in the fridge.

He decided that he was going to bring this special arrangement to the boy’s grave the following day. To honor him.

Before opening the shop the next morning, San went to the café across the street and then headed over to the cemetery again.

“Hello again, San! We’re not expecting another shipment today, are we?” The security guard looks through the papers frantically.

“No, no! I came as a visitor today," San explained. “Here, I brought you this,” he handed Mingi the second coffee he ordered.

“Oh, you didn’t have to do that."

“I know!” San smiled, closing his eyes completely and showing off his dimples.

San made his way to the secluded lot in the back of the cemetery, making himself comfortable on the bench in front of the three - now familiar - names.

He pulled out his sketchpad and started writing an introduction to himself: his name, his flower shop. He had no prior intent, he just let the words flow from his pen onto the page. Once he was finished, he pulled out the floral arrangement he had made, added the note, and put it next to Wooyoung’s stone. He then plucked the wildflower from the ground and added it to his arrangement, completing it.

The boy continued this routine every single day: bringing the fresh cut flowers to the boy’s grave, writing a letter or creating a sketch, adding it to the jar, and leaving to open his shop. At first, he did this because he was saddened that such a young and honorable boy would be left forgotten in the back of a cemetery. However, it quickly became much more.

He knew how it sounded, but San felt a deeper connection to Jung Wooyoung than with anyone he had ever met in his entire life. He hoped that one day, in another life, that they would meet.

The summer months went by and "Mountain of Flowers" was busier than usual.

The bell that signaled that someone came into the shop rang on unnoticed ears, as San scuffled around the shop to prepare his next floral shipments.

“Ahem,” a voice startled the shopkeeper from behind him. “Are you Choi San?"

He turned around to find a boy with a familiar face dressed finely in the uniform typically worn by naval soldiers. This boy was holding up the also familiar jar filled with letters and sketches.

Jung Wooyoung.

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: So.. that’s it! The idea is that the naval academy purchases plots for the officers when they go on their first tour, so that if anything /were/ to happen, the families did not have to deal with it. That is the reason the plots were secluded from the rest of the cemetery, because, luckily, most were unused. I don’t know, it made sense in my head. Hope you liked it!


End file.
